Last December, a video featuring Chinese actress Dilraba Dilmurat showcasing her dance skills on a popular Chinese travel reality show raked in numerous likes and positive feedback on social media platforms like X and YouTube, captivating audiences worldwide.

Dilraba, dressed to the nines in attire from her native Uygur ethnic group, the largest ethnic group in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, impressed with her flawless execution of a traditional local dance's graceful moves.

In this specific episode of the show—Divas Hit the Road Season V, the crew set off on an adventure to Croatia in Central Europe, where cultural harmony and warmth abounded as the show's stars engaged in exchanges with local residents. Dilraba offered onlookers on a Croatian ship a glimpse of the beauty of Chinese culture.

Chinese netizens on popular domestic social media platforms like Weibo, China's equivalent of X, were particularly intrigued by the way her skirt flowed with her movements, comparing it to "a blooming pomegranate flower."

"Xinjiang's [local] music and dance is often inspired by life. These are vibrant forms of art that transcend Uygur boundaries and represent the entire Chinese nation. They have the power to attract global audiences," the actress told Beijing Review.

She believes that everyone can be a carrier of traditional Chinese culture. "By incorporating ethnic elements and traditional culture into our performances and integrating cultural confidence into our daily lives, we can make international audiences truly experience the charm of Chinese culture," she added.

Far from home

Over the past decade, Dilraba, born in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, in 1992, has established herself as a versatile actress, boasting a massive following of 80.52 million fans on Weibo.

After graduating from an art academy, she joined the Xinjiang Song and Dance Troupe, one of the region's leading art troupes, as a dancer and later successfully enrolled in the Shanghai Theatre Academy, one of China's top dramatic art education colleges. Despite going through long periods of endless auditions and waiting for callbacks, she never gave up her dream of becoming an actress and kept honing her professional skills.

In 2023, Dilraba became a regular cast member of Divas Hit the Road Season V, produced by Hunan TV, which provided her with unique experiences across far-away locations.

For her, this was a journey full of heartwarming stories.

"Locals were incredibly welcoming and hospitable," she said. "I witnessed the presence of China in their lives. For instance, the Pelješac Bridge, linking the Pelješac Peninsula with the rest of the country, built by Chinese construction workers in Croatia," she shared.

During her visit to that specific site, she celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday held on the 15th day of the eighth month on the lunisolar calendar, usually in September, with the construction workers and listened to their stories about working together with the local community in building the bridge.

"I realized that this bridge not only shortens the distance between two places but also bridges cultural and language differences, connecting people's hearts. It made me feel immensely proud as a Chinese," she recalled.

Just like one line in the show's theme song, which goes, Innocent and joyful wandering can evoke a sudden sense of nostalgia and connection to our homeland.

Dilraba said that returning to her hometown of Urumqi after wrapping up filming for the show stirred up emotions of feeling both "familiar and estranged."

"My hometown has been developing nonstop. Infrastructure and transportation have become more convenient and advanced, and many shops and malls have opened up. It feels like a new place," she explained.

Home sweet home

A hometown is much more than a geographical marker. It symbolizes a period of childhood memories.

"The memories of my childhood [in Urumqi] are filled with warmth and lovely moments," Dilraba said. "My parents and grandmother were always busy preparing three meals a day. Every day, when I'd come back from school, there would be a table full of food, overflowing with the strong flavors of home," she told Beijing Review.

The actress and her father used to go on long trips, all packed with beautiful sights. "The vast Altai and Tianshan mountains, as well as the infinite greenery of the Narat Grassland, all constitute my hometown memories," she said.

The beauty of Xinjiang once again captured audiences with a singing and dancing show staged at the Kashgar sub-venue of the 2024 China Central Television Spring Festival Gala, a major annual variety show televised on Chinese New Year's Eve, which fell on February 9 this year.

Dilraba was among the performers.

"I was honored to join the show at the Kashgar sub-venue, to go back home! I hope my performance Dance and Music of Xinjiang offered a taste of my hometown's ethnic singing and dancing and helped the audience enjoy a different kind of Chinese New Year. Xinjiang is a wonderful place, and everyone is always welcome!" Dilraba wrote in a post on Weibo following the show.

Many Chinese netizens expressed that Dilraba's performance had piqued their interest in Xinjiang dance and incentivized them to better understand and explore this art form.

The dress Dilraba wore during the performance was designed using Xinjiang's Atlas silk. "Atlas" is in fact a traditionally handwoven pattern on silk, with the name being derived from the Atlas moth, the larva of which produces the silk. Worn by Uygur men and women, the fabric embodies their knowledge and history, establishing a connection to their vibrant past and hopes for a bright future.

"The red pomegranate patterns on my clothes and the small beads resembling pomegranate seeds on my headdress symbolized the unity and cohesion of our 56 ethnic groups," she said. "I think this is a great combination of traditional clothing and modern fashion, a manifestation of cultural confidence."

Traditionally, the different textiles, techniques and accessories crafted by China's different ethnic groups were used to preserve some of their histories, given many groups never used a written language to document their stories.

According to Dilraba, the way people incorporate ethnic elements into their daily outfits represents the everlasting vitality of traditional culture and showcases the vitality of ethnic culture to the world. 

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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